History- The USA in the 1920s

Supreme Court- highest court in America, has power to say a law unconstitutional

White House- centre of Presidential action, powers on foreign policy, defence, trade, currency etc. Base of FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Senate- one of Houses in Congress; senators elected for 6 years, 2 from each state

House of Representatives- other House in Congress, called Congressmen, elected for 2 years

Congress- has to agree to all laws from White House before accepted

Constitution- lays down most important laws, 'check' on Congress' and White House's power.

(1) The USA overtook European overseas markets

• More successful than Europeans
• E.g. overtaken Germany as world's leading producer of fertilisers and dyes.

(2) America had advanced technology

• new materials (e.g. plastic) were at hand to help
• mechanisation

(3) One way trade with Europe

• money poured in due to exports
• e.g. food, raw materials, munitions

(1) Unemployment and strikes

• Bosses refused to take more workers- unemployment meant more wages
• led to violent strikes

(2) Returning soldiers struggled to find jobs

• wages low
• prices high

(3) Racial abuse

• Jews
• blacks

(4) Communism rising

• people feared a revolution

(1) Immigrants brought nastiness

• E.g. mafia, socialism, anarchy

(2) Lead to ghettos

• ghettos were horrible
• violence, drunkedness, prostitution etc.

(3) Lots of immigrants from poor places

• mostly Eastern Europe (e.g. Poland, Russia, Italy)
• led to poverty

(4) People of all cleverness trying to get in

• America introduced 40 word test to limit immigrants- failing meant you were kicked out

(1) Woodrow Wilson wanted world peace

• therefore, join League of Nations to help other countries

(2) Congress and people didn't want this

• wanted normalcy (as it had been before the war)
• stay isolated from the world- sign of power
• no soldiers killed in non-American wars
• felt they had done the part in World War I

(1) Justifying the boom

• Siegfred's book: Europeans find luxuries which are normal in America
• Industrial production rose from 100 to almost 200 (1921-29)
• Number of millionaires x5 in 14 years
• Companies gain more money- higher wages and dividends
• Lots of people had cars

(2) Who did well?

• The higher in society you were, the more money you got
• Still high rates of unemployment (e.g. 11.9% in 1921, to 3.2% in 1929)

(3) What happened to wages and company profits?

• average wages increased by 10% in 9 years.
• company profits increased by just over 60% in 9 years.

(1) Electrical

• new domestic goods- (e.g. radios sold increased from 60,000 to 10 million in 9 years)
• electricity use doubled in 1920s
• 1929, 70% of Americans had lights

(2) Chemicals

• e.g. dyes, fertilisers, new plastics, man-made fibres

(3) Cars

• 17 million increase in production (1919= 9 million produced, 1929= 26 million produced)
• mass produced=cheap and easy to afford
• created demand for steel, glass and rubber

(1) Newspapers and magazines

• mostly tabloids (e.g. fashion, sports, crime, movie stars)
• first tabloid in 1919- by 1922, 10 mags had 2.5million+ circulation

(2) Sport

• most popular sport was baseball
• 
• 1924, 67,000 at match between Illinois and Michigan
• 1926, 145,000 at boxing match

(3) Cinema

• MASS-PRODUCTION industry- Hollywood
• tickets sold a week increased by 60million from 1920 to 1930
• comedies most popular

(1) Shopping

• Chain stores lead to mass production
• Clothing sales up by 427%
• Truck industry improved meant goods delivered easier
• Remote people could buy anything by mail

(2) Advertising

• New types- e.g. magazine and radio advertising
• 
• Colourful with catch-phrases
• promoted consumer goods

(1) Aircraft improved

• 162,000 flights by 1929

(2) 1930, paved roads doubled

• more cars, trucks (x3 to 3.5million by 1929) and buses

(1) Industrial growth

• skyscrapers demonstrated companies' power
• 
• office boom- e.g. banks, insurance companies, advertising companies
• demand for factories
• schools
• hospitals

(1) A good starting point

• natural resources- provided materials required for growing industries
• World War I- industries had flying start
• policies of Republican presidents- businesses could expand without restrictio

(2) New ideas on business

• new technology- modernised old businesses
• mass production- materials cheap and easy to afford
• mass marketing- encouraged people to buy more
• credit- people could buy even if they didn't have enough money

(3) National outlook

• confidence- right frame of mind for developments

(1) Mass-production and business ideas

• Ford was the pioneerer of mass production- put cars on an assembly line and parts are added.
• 1913, 1 car every 3 minutes. 1920s, 1 car every 10 seconds.
• Could be afforded by more people because cheap
• hard work for all, including himself- no shabby work.
• 1914, doubled wages to $5- loads more workers. Still got lots of profit

(2) Impact of Model T

• price dropped from $1200 to $295. Cheap, and useful for types of road.
• brought sense of freedom- encouraged building of roads

(3) Outside the car industry

• pacifist, politician, anti-Semite (anti-Jews), union basher and charity giver
• very influential

(1) Black people

• Most lived in South, worked as labourers or sharecroppers, huge discrimination
• 3/4 million farm workers lost jobs in 1920s

(2) New immigrants

• faced discrimination- less educated and stereo-typed
• lots worked in construction, where wages only rose 4%- CHEAP LABOUR!

(3) Farmers

• 3million families+ less than $1000 a year- creating more than they need=less income =difficult to keep mortgage=eviction
• small farmers came out worse

(4) Industrial workers

• old industries mechanised- loss of jobs (e.g. miners), prices+wages drop
• too much coal=market shrinking, as oil, gas, electricity more important

(1) Work

• Mechanisation=more jobs for less strong women (e.g. car production)
• lower wages meant more likely to be employed than men
• 1930, number of women employed up by 25%.

(2) Social/political

• liberated from feminist views- greater freedom
• more women smoking, drinking, driving cars, wearing make up etc.
• extreme liberated woman called flapper- considered base of womens' fashion (e.g. short skirts, bright clothes, lots of make up)

(3) Conclusion

• Many women stayed clear of flappers, still took some advantage of new machines (e.g. hoovers) to get more time